Former Everton FC midfielder Mick Buckley has passed away at the tragically premature age of 59.

A slick, ball-playing midfielder with a waspish tackle, Buckley represented England at youth and Under-23 level – and scored a winning goal against West Germany in the final of the ‘Little World Cup’.

That was in May 1972.

A month earlier he had scored the first of 12 goals for the Blues in 158 appearances, a match winner at Southampton.

But his most consistent campaign was in 1974/75, when he made 33 starts in the Billy Bingham team which came so close to winning the league title.

He suffered from injuries in 1977 and saw the arrival of rivals like Andy King and Trevor Ross limit his opportunities, and he joined Sunderland for £80,000. He enjoyed a solid career in the North-East, playing 121 times for the Wearsiders before spells at Hartlepool, Carlisle and Middlesbrough.

After hanging up his boots, though, a void opened up in Mick’s life which he found desperately hard to fill.

Mick Buckley, former Everton player, with Rev. Harry Ross in the garden at St. Luke's Church

A self-confessed alcoholic who had lost his job, his home and his marriage, he was rescued by the Everton Former Players Foundation.

Trustee, Rev Harry Ross, asked a couple of Mick’s old team-mates to track him down – and within days Buckley was in the Sporting Chance clinic receiving treatment for his problem. “That day turned my life round,” he admitted.

“I was sitting in a pub in Manchester on my own – when you’re an alcoholic you don’t want any company – and my old team-mates Gary Jones and Terry Darracott walked in.

“They sat down and they said: ‘We know all about you Mike. We’ve come to help you.’

“My first reaction was: ‘What do you mean? I’m fine. I’m great. No problems at all. Just having a drink.’

“But they persisted. ‘Mike. You’re not fooling us. We know you’re drinking and you’ve left home. We’ve been to the bed and breakfast and they’ve told us where to find you. Everyone knows, Mike. We’ve come to help you.’

“Then I broke down. You get very emotional when you’re in that kind of condition, not for yourself but because of all the people you’ve let down.

“I don’t know why I started drinking. I used to enjoy a pint, like most people, but my son ended up on drugs when he was just 18.

“They got me into the Sporting Chance clinic, they paid all my court fines, they’ve been great – and anything I can do to help them in return I’ll do.”

Mick was true to his word helping the Former Players’ Foundation whenever possible, but ultimately he needed the kind of help which couldn’t be provided by anybody after being struck down by serious illness.

He passed away after a long illness just three weeks short of his 60th birthday.